Questions

• What is the ZXTM Desktop Edition?
• What can I use it for?
• I've downloaded and installed it. Now what?
• What is a 'development license'?
• Can I use this Desktop Edition to gauge the performance of ZXTM?

Common Problems

• I can't run the Desktop Edition because I get an 'insufficient memory' error.
• When the Desktop Edition boots, it states that there was a problem with DHCP.
• How do I get console access to the Desktop Edition?
• How can I SSH into the Desktop Edition, or copy files in using scp or pscp?
• When the ZXTM software starts up, I see a 'Serious: STI failed' message.
• I have a problem. How can I get help?

What is the ZXTM Desktop Edition?

The ZXTM Desktop Edition is a pre-built virtual machine containing Zeus' ZXTM software, some webservers and a sample website. You can use VMware, Microsoft or Sun virtualization software to run this Desktop Edition on any Windows, Mac or Linux desktop or server.

It's completely unintrusive. You do not need dedicated hardware, and you do not need to install any additional software, other than the required virtualization software. You can use:

• VMware's VMware Player or VMware Server software, or other VMware virutalization software;
• Microsoft's Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 software for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista systems;
• Sun's Sun xVM VirtualBox virtualization software.

Zeus also offers a production-ready ZXTM Virtual Appliance that you can download and deploy in a live environment. You can find more details on the ZXTM VA product pages.

What can I use it for?

You may use the ZXTM Desktop Edition:

• To evaluate the ZXTM software;
• As a development system, when testing configurations and TrafficScript rules;
• As a demonstration system, for example, when demonstrating ZXTM-based solutions to colleagues and customers.

You may not use the ZXTM Desktop Edition in a production environment, or any other environment where it is managing live traffic

For a production environment, use ZXTM VA which you can deploy on VMware Virtual Infrastructure, or the ZXTM software which can be deployed inside a supported guest operating system on any supported virtualization platform.

I've downloaded and installed it. Now what?

Read the Using your ZXTM Desktop Edition documentation.

The documentation describes how to run the Desktop Edition, and gives several worked examples illustrating common configurations of ZXTM.

What is a 'development license key'?

The ZXTM Desktop Edition includes a 'development license'. This license key enables all the optional software features of ZXTM, including bandwidth management, service level monitoring and web content caching.

The license key restricts the performance of the ZXTM software. The software is limited to 10 connections per second, and 10 concurrent connections.

Can I use this Desktop Edition to gauge the performance of ZXTM?

No. The virtual machine is not intended for this purpose. You will get very poor performance figures from it because:

• The virtual machine uses a development license which restricts the number of simultaneous connections it can process.
• The virtual machine is not configured with performance in mind. For example, the available memory is very limited so that the machine can function on a wide range of host systems.

If you would like to gauge the performance of ZXTM, you should apply for a full product evaluation and consider tuning your ZXTM system. Our support team will be able to help you configure and benchmark the system correctly.

I can't run the Desktop Edition because I get an 'insufficient memory' error.

The Desktop Edition requires a minimum of 96Mb memory to run. In practice, this means that your host computer should have at least 256Mb memory in order that it can run the machine comfortably.

When the Desktop Edition boots, it states that there was a problem with DHCP.

The virtual machine needs to acquire an IP address so that you can connect to it using a web browser. It uses DHCP on the first network interface configured in the virtual machine to do this.

VMware Virtualization platforms include a DHCP server that is used when NAT networking is selected. A web browser running on the host operating system can connect to IP addresses assigned by the DHCP server. This is the most reliable way to configure the networking for the ZXTM Desktop Edition, and is suitable for standalone systems that are not connected to an external network.

Alternatively, VMware, Microsoft and Sun virtualization systems offer a 'bridged' or 'host interface' mode of networking, where the virtual machine's adapter is connected (bridged) to a physical adapter on the host. That physical adapter must be connected to an external network that has a DHCP server.

Bridged mode can be less reliable because it requires access to an external DHCP server, and security policies may not permit the granting of IP address leases to the virtual machine.

VirtualBox's 'NAT' interface is not suitable for ZXTM Desktop Edition as it does not port-forward without explicit configuration. The VirtualBox NAT interface includes an internal DHCP server that serves up IP addresses from 10.x.x.x by default; if this address range conflicts with the address range used by your external DHCP server, VirtualBox may not forward the DHCP replies to the guest machine. You can resolve this by shutting down your virtual machine and issuing the following command (all on one line):

C:\> "C:\Program Files\Sun\xVM VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" modifyvm \
      "ZXTM Desktop Edition" -natnet1 "192.168.1.0/24"

Please refer to the VirtualBox Documentation "Configuring the address of a NAT network interface" for more information.

How do I get console access to the Desktop Edition?

Console access is available through tty2. Use 'Alt-F2' to switch to tty2, then log in as user 'zeus' (no password). Use sudo to run commands as root.

You can get remote SSH access via the 'zeus' account, but this is locked if the 'zeus' password is empty. To use SSH, first log in to the console and set a password for the 'zeus' account by typing the command passwd zeus.

How can I SSH into the Desktop Edition, or copy files in using scp or pscp?

See above: You can get remote SSH access via the 'zeus' account, but this is locked if the 'zeus' password is empty. To use SSH, first log in to the console and set a password for the 'zeus' account by typing the command passwd zeus.

When the ZXTM software starts up, I see a 'Serious: STI failed' message.

This may happen on a very low powered host computer, or a computer which is overloaded or starved of memory. It occurs when the Desktop Edition cannot get sufficient resources to run smoothly.

This message indicates that the software may function slowly - you really need a more powerful host computer - but everything will still work correctly.

I have a problem. How can I get help?

Take a look at the Using your ZXTM Desktop Edition documentation. Send an email to knowledgehub@zeus.com.

If you have a VMware-related question, you can visit VMware's KnowledgeBase and Discussion Forums on their VMware Technology Network.